Stevie Ray Vaughan's Guitar Gear

Stevie Ray Vaughan commissioned Fender to reproduce his famous, battle-scarred Number One Stratocaster shortly before his death. The Vaughan signature Strat was modeled after Stevie’s personal axe and features an early 60s "Oval" neck shape, Pao Ferro fingerboard with flatter 12" radius and larger frets, gold-plated hardware, a black pickguard with the SRV initial logo, and an inverted left-hand vintage tremolo unit. In the foreground are an old Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer distortion box and a Crybaby wah-wah pedal, the two effects Stevie used most. In the backline are two of Stevie’s favorite amps: the blackface 1967 Super Reverb and the tweed 1959 Bassman. Stevie used Super Reverbs in addition to his Vibroverbs throughout his career. The Bassman figured prominently in the sessions for In Step. These are the primary instruments used for the guitar tracks of SRV Signature Licks, Volume Two.

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          photo by Tim Cadiente

 
Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Fender Stratocaster

The Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Strat was modeled after Stevie's personal Number One axe and features an early 1960s "Oval" neck shape, three Texas Special pickups, a Pao Ferro fingerboard with flatter 12" radius and larger frets (Stevie used bass frets). The Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster also features gold-plated hardware, a black-white-black pickguard with an etched SRV initial logo, and an inverted left-hand tremolo unit. Stevie strung these with heavy gauge strings and tuned down a half-step. 

Click here for more on the Fender web-site.

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Fender Amps

1959 BASSMAN
The late 1950s tweed Fender Bassman combo remains the classic blues amp, an ultimate tone monster. It is a 45-watt tube amplifier with four 10-inch speakers and a four-input design. The tweed Bassman combo was, and still is, a preferred amp of countless guitarists, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, B.B.King, T-Bone Walker, Jeff Beck and many others. The original Bassman combo was discontinued by Fender in 1961. Overwhelming demand for this classic prompted Fender Musical Instruments to produce a very convincing reissue: the ’59 Bassman. Highly recommended.

SUPER REVERB
Introduced in the 1964-1965 Fender catalog, the blackface Fender Super Reverb combo grew out of the tweed Bassman design of the 1950s. Basically it provided a bigger, more rugged version of the same four-speaker amp with reverb, the mid-60s black tolex/black panel cosmetics, and a two-channel design with bright switches. It has become a definitive blues guitar amp, favored by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, Johnny Winter and many others.

VIBROVERB
Fender introduced the blackface Vibroverb amp in the same 1964-1965 catalog that presented the Super Reverb. The Vibroverb was closely related to the Super Reverb, containing the same electronics (wattage, controls, fifteen tube performance) and cosmetics, differing primarily in the use of a single 15-inch speaker instead of four 10s. Stevie Ray Vaughan alternated between blackface Vibroverbs and Super Reverbs throughout his career.

Click here for more information on the Fender web-site.

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Ibanez Tube Screamer
Stevie Ray Vaughan used both the early TS-808 and the later TS-9 Ibanez Tube Screamer stomp boxes in his career. The TS-808 is easily distinguished from the TS-9 by its small black knobs, smaller stomp button, white script on the housing, and darker green color. They have become a particularly coveted distortion unit and command high prices these days, due in great part to Stevie’s association. The Tube Screamer was his primary distortion device. He employed it to overdrive the front end of his tube amps and to add a natural tube-like saturation and sustain to his lead voice.

Click here for more on the Ibanez web-site.

Crybaby Wah-Wah Pedal
Throughout his career Stevie Ray Vaughan alternated between the Crybaby wah-wah pedals and the vintage Vox wah-wah pedal. A superb example of his wah-wah playing can be found on the track "Say What" from Soul to Soul. Other notable SRV wah-wah pedal examples include "Voodoo Chile" and "Come On" (Part Three).
Here's a WAV example from The Guitar Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan CD "Say What."      

Click here for more on the Dunlop web-site.

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